Islanders' Matthew Schaefer paired with Scott Mayfield to open training camp
Scott Mayfield pointed for Matthew Schaefer to spread out wider to his left just before the start of a drill. After the five-man unit scored a goal, Schaefer again joined his defense partner at center ice for a quick lesson in positioning.
“It was nice for him to be with Maysie,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I think Maysie would be like maybe a big brother kind of role for him.”
The NHL education of Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in June, began in earnest on Thursday with the opening of Islanders training camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.
Mayfield and the other veterans will play a large role in how quickly Schaefer can meet the high expectations created by his elite skating, passing and on-ice vision.
“There’s always a big learning curve,” Mayfield said. “So far, he’s asking questions when he wants to know something. Part of my job is to be able to answer those and rely on my experience. I was really impressed the first day. His skating is what’s going to really show everyone what he can do.”
The Islanders, who will open their six-game preseason schedule against the Flyers on Sunday night at UBS Arena, will give Schaefer every opportunity to make the roster.
Starting him with Mayfield as a potential third pairing was a good indication Schaefer is on track to be in the lineup for the season opener in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9.
“It’s just getting my feet wet,” Schaefer said. “High expectations. I feel like I can be better in a lot of ways, so I’ll be looking to do that going into [Friday]. But I thought today was a good first step.”
The 6-2, 186-pound, left-shooting Schaefer, who turned 18 on Sept. 5, said he didn’t feel nerves before his first day on ice with the veterans, nor did he have the time for self-reflection on his situation before hitting the ice.
“You’re just so busy and you’re so dialed in, you don’t really think about that stuff,” Schaefer said. “As a kid, you’d look up to or go, oh, you’re on the ice with Casey [Cizikas] or Mathew Barzal. But when you’re on there, everyone’s pretty equal. You’re playing the game of hockey and you love it.
“Scotty was a big help today. Having him as a defense partner, lots of talk every time I came back to the bench. My ears are wide open for him to let me know what I need to do better.”
Other notable defense pairings on the first day were Alexander Romanov with Tony DeAngelo and Adam Pelech with Ryan Pulock. First-round pick Kashawn Aicheson (No. 17 overall) worked with Ethan Bear, who has 275 games of NHL experience, and Adam Boqvist, expected to compete with Mayfield for a role in the top six, was paired with Isaiah George.
Up front, Bo Horvat was between Jonathan Drouin and Max Shabanov, Barzal centered Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s line included Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom, and Cizikas worked with Emil Heineman and Max Tsyplakov.
Notes & quotes: The Islanders reported Pierre Engvall underwent offseason hip surgery. He skated on his own on Thursday, but the team said the forward will not rejoin practices for two to three weeks . . . Goalie Semyon Varlamov, who had season-ending knee surgery last December, also skated on his own. The Islanders said he is “progressing” but gave no timeline for him rejoining his teammates . . . Pelech is wearing a full face shield after recently taking a puck to the mouth but stressed he is “fully healthy” . . . Drouin, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal, said new general manager/executive vice president Mathieu Darche was a key reason he wanted to join the Islanders. “The young players and the veterans we have here,” Drouin said. “Darche had a big part of that. Just a phone call with him and knowing his background with Tampa Bay was really huge.” . . . Roy said he was impressed with Barzal’s agility coming off surgery on his right kneecap. “Outstanding,” Roy said. “I think we were all curious to see how well he would skate.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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